Ultranormal

Author: Kevin Lawver

  • In a Boat Without a Paddle

    Not the title I would have given it, but I’ve never seen a picture that more accurate reflects my mood. Remove the paddle, and it’s exactly how I fee.

    Have you ever been stuck in emergency mode so long that nothing at all feels important? Work has been maddening, with everyone claiming top priority and not allowing time for rational thought before the problem must be solved in the shortest amount of time and with little to no testing. It’s a hideous way to work, and I’ve finally gotten so sick of it that today I refused to make a fix until someone had a list of problems longer than 1. I won’t go in and touch anymore code with justification and a real list of goals. I give up. My patience is at an end. I’m out of emergency juice.

  • It’s The JC Adventure Hour!

    I don’t know, I think Jesus would be flattered. I mean, who hasn’t wanted to be cartoon character or video game hero?

  • Down To…

    The Wire is the second coming of Homicide: Life on the Street. The show is really coming along. The characters are great. I keep trying to compare them to the old crew of Homicide, but it’s hard. There are only a couple that really match up well. Bunk is Meldrick Lewis. The old guy who makes doll house furniture is kind of Pembleton, but only of Pembleton had hung around to retirement age. Avon Barksdale is Luthor Mahoney without the flair (the flair being in Omar, who I think is one of the best bad guys on TV). On the surface, the show seems almost cliche. Dig a little deeper, watch a little closer, and the nuances jump out and give the show a depth unlike any cop show I’ve seen in a long time. For instance, in last night’s episode, Bunk and Jimmy go out drinking. The next day in the office, they’re all bleary without actually mentioning a hangover.

    So, if you have HBO, and you’re not watching, shame on you. It’s a great show, and I hope it comes back for many seasons to come.

    In other TV news, last night’s Sex and the City was kind of disappointing. I hate to say it, but I think they’ve run out of steam. Didn’t it feel like a rerun?

    And to counter the point of the show, I don’t think you get a set number of great loves in your life. You get as many as you go out and find, and as many as you need to find the one that will last. It’s a struggle, and sometimes it’s not fun. But, if you stop looking, you’ve shut out the possibility that you’ll find your next great love.

    And still more… Trey was not Charlotte’s great love. He was the great placeholder for love. Aiden may have been a great love, but Big certainly wasn’t. He was a protracted fling.

    I’ll keep watching because there really isn’t anything else on. But, I’m almost hoping this is the last season. I’d hate to see the show limp into obscurity. Go out near the top.

  • Yes, These Are My Boiling Pants

    Because I’m stupid, I wore a black t-shirt and jeans out today. It was 94 degrees outside with 75-85% humidity. I’m exhausted, and I didn’t even do anything other than load the car with the new shelves I bought downstairs and load the groceries. If I weren’t so pale (and fat), I swear I’d go out naked.

  • For You… Snatch

    For whoever searched for Snatch theme song, the name of the song is Diamond, and it was performed by Klint Harvey and Seba. It’s spiffy, to say the least, and is the second track on the soundtrack.

    I love referer logs…

  • You Wanna See?

    So, my favorite thing about Movable Type so far is the modules. My whole pages are modular, and I love it. I can change one file and rebuild, and it changes everywhere. You wanna see? Here’s my homepage template:

    <$MTInclude module="pageHeader"$>
<$MTInclude module="menuHeader"$>
<$MTInclude module="menuLastTenOffset"$>
<$MTInclude module="menuLinks"$>
<$MTInclude module="menuFooter"$>
<$MTInclude module="blogHeader"$>
<!-- start entries -->
<$MTInclude module="blogFrontPage"$>
<!-- end entries -->
<$MTInclude module="blogFooter"$>
<$MTInclude module="pageFooter"$>

    And the stylesheet’s even better. Change one file, and I can change pretty much anything I want about the layout. I love the web. You’d think after all this time, I’d get bored and go do something else. But nope, still hooked.

  • And The Emmy Goes To…

    The coolest thing about the Emmy nomination list for this year is that the nominations aren’t dominated by crap actors who people think are “due”, and there is a good collection of non-network shows and actors nominated. The fact that most of the cast of Six Feet Under was nominated, plus Michael Chiklis (who’s show I haven’t seen, but man, has FX ever gotten a nomination for anything?). It’s a good sign I think that at least the Emmy’s can grow up.

  • We Are Installified!

    Yessiree Bob, Movable Type is now installed on this site, and everything has been migrated over. How cool is that? The only problem was importing. It refused to do all 653 entries at once, and I had to break up the files. I think we’re golden now. There may be some duplicate entries, but I can live with that.

  • Random… RARH!!

    More random goodness, it’s a mechanical dinosaur!!

  • Oh Crap

    So, if this turns out to be more than a witchhunt… we’re screwed.